Fungal Infestation Of Food & Hazards

Food grains such as groundnuts,maizes and parboiled rice may get infested with fungus.This, if occurs because of Aspergillus Flavusposes a health risk.One toxin called Aflatoxinis produced by it.Aflatoxin B1 is linked to serious diseases and deaths in India .Ingesting these contaminated grains may cause serious liver disease i.e. hepatoma, a cancer of liver or cirrhosis of liver.Increased moisture and humidity facilitates fungus growth.The food grains must be stored dried and moisture content be below 10%.If contamination is noticed the food should be discarded.